Warner Bros. dropped a medium-sized bombshell this morning when they confirmed the presence of a character in The Dark Knight Rises that shouldn’t be around after the events of Batman Begins.

We’ve speculated that Liam Neeson would be making a return to the end of the series to bring the story around full circle, but we didn’t have confirmation until now.

According to the production notes from The Wrath of the Titans (via CBM), Bruce Wayne’s original mentor will be making an appearance in The Dark Knight Rises.

“Neeson next appears in Peter Berg’s actioner “Battleship,” and he also will be seen in Christopher Nolan’s much-anticipated action thriller “The Dark Knight Rises.”

Yes, he might just be filming flashback scenes (whether it’s from Bruce Wayne’s memory, Talia’s memory, or someone else’s memory has yet to be seen), but is there a possibility that Al Ghul could make a return to mortality?

We showed you these pictures of Nolan shooting at a big, green-screened pit that some have speculated might be the Lazarus pit, a mystic bath with healing properties, but some maintain that Nolan would prefer a more realistic turn of events.

Will Ra’s return to finish off Bruce Wayne? Will he show him the mysterious pit that might be adept at healing broken backs?